140 WHYTOCK—THE CULTIVATION OF 
fessional gardener could have been found to do such a thing at 
this date. 
On receiving one-year-old vines from a nursery with a view to 
planting a vinery, the first thing to do is to put them in a tank 
of water, and let them remain there during forty-eight hours. 
That will kill any phylloxera that may be on the roots. The 
next thing is to shake every particle of soil from the roots. If 
you have a melon-house with a bed and slate-slabs, sprinkle over 
the slabs one-and-a-half inches finely chopped sod mixed with 
vine-manure. Spread the roots of your vines out over the soil on 
slabs, then cover the roots with one-and-a-half inches of the same 
mixture. When the vines start_to grow the roots take hold of 
the three inches of soil over and below them. In the middle of 
May, the time to plant in the vinery, take a wooden shovel and 
lift each vine with the soil attached: to the roots, and lay it in its 
place on the surface of the border, covering up with an inch or 
two more soil and then a mulch on top of all. If this shifting 
from melon-house to vinery is done ‘carefully no check will be 
given to growth and the vines will soon reach the top of the 
house. The important point gained by this method is that the 
roots are all on the very surface, and anyone who has grown 
grapes successfully knows that the roots of the vines must be 
there if the crop is to be a success. 
Various methods have been tried to keep the roots continuously 
near the surface, about which I would like to say a little The 
first sensational exhibits of grapes were shown by the late Mr. 
Fewler, of Castle Kennedy, at an International Show held in 
Edinburgh in 1865. He produced on that occasion very large 
bunches, superbly finished, of Muscats and all of the finest 
quality of grapes, and a bunch of White Nice sixteen pounds 
in weight—an unprecedented weight up to that time. I was 
quite a young journeyman at the time, and was allowed in the 
situation I was then in ten days holidays. I set off to see the 
vineries at Castle Kennedy and if possible find out the key of the 
success in grape-growing. I found there the vinery borders 
both inside and outside were totally covered with beds of leaves, 
solidly built three feet deep. These beds remained for the 
twelve months and were removed only to have beds of fresh 
leaves built in their place. The roots of the vines came up most 
